Road Trip
by Vivian Troche
Summary: Two-shot: Liam and Annie get marooned on a mountain then lost in a thunderstorm. No, it's not really as ridiculous as all that. But, will they take advantage of these opportunities or let great love pass them by? Please R&R, I'm new at this!
1. Chapter 1

Annie stood up awkwardly and brushed the snow off her behind for what felt like the millionth time. She turned toward the top of the hill, eying Liam angrily; convinced he hadn't given her appropriate directions and was just enjoying watching her repeatedly fall on her ass. She unclipped her board and lifted it, carrying it as she trudged back up the hill warily.

"Are you sure you told me everything I need to know?" she asked as she approached him.

"Yes. Come on, Annie! I'm hurt you think I want to see you fall down all the time." He couldn't quite hold back a chuckle at that and Annie hit him with her board, nearly causing him to fall over.

He gave her an "en-garde" look and bent down to unhook his board.

Annie saw what was coming and backed away quickly, grabbing a handful of snow and packing it in her gloved hands.

He stuck his board in the snow as he would a surfboard in the sand. As he looked around for Annie she chucked the snowball at him with all her might from her hiding place behind a picnic table.

Liam took the snowball right in the face, just above his nose. It stung like a mother and his eyes immediately started watering. He tried to blink the blurry from his eyes, and he spied her running awkwardly across the bunny slopes to a clump of trees.

"You're _dead_!" He yelled, chasing after her.

She turned toward him as she ran, a wide smile across her face, her cheeks flushed. Annie darted into the trees as Liam crossed the slope quickly toward her.

As he entered the patch of greenery he stopped to let his eyes adjust. It was much darker in the wood and the sky seemed to be darkening quickly.

He took another dead on strike in the chest and he heard Annie laugh from somewhere to the right of him. He walked quickly, trying to listen for her.

He heard her giggle and run out into the open again. Liam turned on his heel and quickly caught up with her, grabbing her waist and tackling her, throwing them both down into the snow.

Liam rolled onto his back, his arms still around Annie, pulling her on top of him. They were both laughing hysterically and Annie absently picked snowflakes off Liam's eyelashes.

Her beanie had fallen off in the scuffle and Liam grabbed it off the snow, shaking it out and pulling it down over her eyes. He looked happily at her giant smile and batted her hand away as she tried to push the wool further up her head.

Finally giving in Liam folded the beanie up, revealing her eyes. Her expression was mischief and laughter and happiness. It was the happiest he'd seen her in a while and she was just...so...fragile and beautiful. Her eyes were wild and he found himself unable to look away from her.

Annie watched Liam passively at first but understanding slowly blossomed in her chest. His arms around her, the playfulness and the way he was looking at her.

Quickly she stood up and threw snow down onto his face, needing a distraction...needing something to diffuse the situation.

"That was for tackling me and...and blinding me!" She exclaimed, somewhat more desperately than she had intended.

"Ok, ok! Enough with the violence!" He yelled, putting his hands up in mock surrender. He looked over her shoulder toward the gathering clouds in the distance. "Well that's enough for today. You actually did well. It's hard for people to pick it up, I promise. We should get something hot to drink and then call it a day…looks like a nasty storm is blowing in."

Annie turned and looked for herself. "Yeesh. Yeah, we should book." She helped him up, and they walked back to their boards. She nudged him with her shoulder, speaking more quietly then she had before. "Thank you for doing this…it's just what I needed. With my family, and the truth about the accident…and Dixon….just, thanks."

Liam looked at her face, trying to catch her eyes, but he could see she was blinking quickly, trying to prevent tears. He put his arm around her tentatively and gave her a slight hug. "Not a problem, Annie. I knew you needed to get away. I'm just glad I could be here to help."

After a beat Annie looked up at him and smiled that little-girlish crooked smile that he loved so much and wrapped her other arm around his waist. "Come on. I need cocoa and a fire, my ass is ice."

Liam laughed and they walked up the hill toward the lodge arm in arm.

A little while later Annie and Liam walked out of the main entrance on their way to the parking lot, armed with warm beverages, ready to brave the long drive home. They were surprised to see snow falling, a thin layer already spread upon the ground.

"Shit." Liam said, dismayed.

"What?" Annie asked.

"I don't have chains. It wasn't supposed to snow up here today, this storm came out of no where."

"Meaning?"

"I can't get down the hill without chains."

"Oh." Annie said, troubled that she felt brief elation at the thought that they would be stuck on a mountain together.

Liam leaned against the railing leading away from the lodge and sipped his cocoa. He was damned sure he wasn't going to suggest anything. He was already in enough trouble with this girl.

"Well...um...we could sleep in the car right?"

His head shot over to her, a quizzical expression on his face. "If we want to freeze, sure, we could do that."

"Oh...right. I'm an idiot." Her pulse was galloping in her ears. "Well...they have cabins or whatever here, right? You drove and paid...so I could rent us a room?"

"Annie!" Liam asked, playfully. "Are you propositioning me?"

She looked at him disapprovingly, unwilling to give in to his flirty attitude. "I'm sure they have rooms with _two_ beds, Liam."

"I'm hurt." Liam mocked. "Yeah, well that's cool if you'd do that. I appreciate it. Should I call Dixon and tell him?"

"Yeah...that would go over better actually. And tell him your phone's about to die and mine already did. I don't want to deal with my mom calling me all hysterical. I'll go get the room. You get us squared away with family."

"I'm on it."

Annie came back after having to shell out $90 for a cabin. The key was on a wooden chain shaped like a moose. At least they had a sense of humor, she thought to herself.

"Expensive?" Liam asked?

"Ninety bucks. I think we're about even. We good with parents?"

"Jeffrey's pissed, my mom is fine and Dixon has a plan for your mom. Don't ask me what it is. He was very weird on the phone when I said we were stuck up here."

I'll bet he was; she thought silently. "Ok, well I'm beat. Let's go hit the cabin and turn on the heater." She looked down at herself pathetically. "So, you got any spare clothes in that beast of yours?"

"I might actually. You go start up the home fires. What number?"

"Three. The girl said it was right at the top of the hill."

"Alright, be right there."

Liam sat flipping idly through channels trying to keep himself distracted. Annie was showering and she was going to come out of the bathroom wearing his favorite plaid shirt and sweat pants. He heard the water turn off and the curtain slide across the bar. The door wasn't all the way closed because there wasn't an exhaust fan, which he had learned the hard way when he showered. It had taken him ages to get dry.

He fought the urge to steal a glance at the partially open door.

"Oh my God that feels better!" Annie called from the bathroom. "Did you feel this good after your shower?"

"It was nice." He replied, forcing himself not to wonder if she was still wearing just a towel.

Suddenly everything went black. The TV died, the lights went out. They'd lost power. Liam heard a thunk from the bathroom.

"Are you ok?" Liam yelled, jumping off his bed and going to the bathroom door. He almost walked right in before he caught himself.

"Aw, hell. Yeah, I'm fine, my hand just slipped off the towel bar and I rocked my head. Did we lose power?"

"Afraid so."

"Shit...that means the heater too." Liam hadn't thought of that. "Hey, can you reach in here with your phone on? I'm not dressed and I need some light."

"Um, yeah sure." Liam said, angling his hand into the bathroom opening the door as little as possible and flipping open his phone.

He saw Annie dimly in the reflection from the mirror. She had his shirt on and was buttoning the last few buttons. Her hair was damp from the moisture of the shower and she drowned in his shirt, it fell nearly to her knees. She took his sweats off the counter and stepped into them, rolling them over at the waist a few times.

"Thanks, I'm done." She said, opening the door and absently putting her hand on his chest as she walked by. "Well, I know from experience that it will get real cold in here real quick." She said, rummaging around the room in the moonlight.

"What are you doing?" Liam asked, sitting on the corner of his bed.

"Places like this lose power all the time. They always have candles somewhere—aha!" Annie pulled out two small cathedral candles and a box of wooden matches.

She set one on the table in between the beds and put the other by the TV so they could see the room.

"Who are you, MacGyver?"

"Oh please, you're from New York, you know this stuff."

"Dixon told you that?"

"Yeah. Why?"

"And you remembered?"

"Yes. Was I supposed to forget?"

"No it's just…never mind."

"Okey dokey. Weirdo."

"You just said 'okey-dokey' and I'm the weirdo?"

Annie threw her head back and laughed. The candle light bounced off her neck and flirted with the hints of collarbone that were peeking out from his shirt. She walked around and switched off the lights that had been on and unplugged the TV. Liam just watched her, impressed that she didn't really care how she looked, which was kind of ridiculous and definitely adorable.

"I'm just doing this so that if the power comes back on in the night we won't be scared half to death." She blew out the candle by the beds and crawled into her bed, burrowing so deeply under the covers Liam could barely see her copper hair.

"So, what time should I set an alarm for?" Liam asked, getting into his bed.

"I would say seven…we can see how the weather is then and if they've ploughed. Thank God it's a weekend and we won't miss school."

"Yeah, whatever; I like missing school."

"Go to sleep." Liam heard Annie's mocking muffled whisper. "You're a bad influence on me."

"Yeah, yeah." Liam said, pulling the covers around him. "That's what everybody says…Goodnight Annie."

"G'night Liam."

Liam awoke slowly, wondering why his arm hurt; he tried to move until he stopped himself and remembered what had happened.

Around two am he had woken up, freezing cold. Annie was all the way over one the far side of her bed, a tiny little bump in the sheets. The beds were queens and Liam had stayed lying in his bed for a bit, to make sure she was really out. After about 10 minutes he still hadn't heard any change in her soft breathing, so he pulled the blankets off his bed and crept into hers.

Lucky for him the beds were quality and didn't squeak much as he slipped under her sheets and slowly layered his on top of them. He got as close to her as he could, so that they're combined body heat would keep them warm for the rest of the night.

But, all that still didn't explain how he was where he was now.

They were in the middle of the bed, blankets pulled into a little mountain around them and Annie was lying on his left arm. His hand was beneath her pillow and his right arm wrapped entirely around her. Her left leg was slung over his hip and her right leg was extended against his left, her arms tucked against his chest. They could have been in a sleeping bag they were so close together.

Her hair was covering part of her face, her breath blowing strands away for a moment, only to return a moment later. He could see her mouth, slightly open against his arm and her eyes danced beneath closed lids. He'd never realized she had such long eyelashes before and he wondered what she was dreaming about.

Carefully he lifted her hair off her face, the backs of his fingers lingering on her temple. Despite every logical thought screaming at him not to do it, Liam turned toward her, arched his neck, leaned down and kissed her on her cheek just below her eye. The kiss was barely as powerful as a whisper, but sent an unrelenting shudder down his spine.

Annie sighed softly in her sleep and moved her head more into his shoulder, turning her face upward toward his.

All of it, the bed, the night, them…all of it was wrong, wrong and enticing and…tempestuous, tempestuous like Annie herself always had been. He'd known it from the beginning, loved it from the beginning. Liam didn't want to hurt her, didn't want to put her through anything more than he already had, but he had to…had to feel her, taste her, just this once.

He looked at her face, her serene expression…like nothing bad had ever happened, like the last seven months had been a production she'd watched, not been a part of. He leaned toward her again, closed his eyes, his mouth a breath away from hers—

"Liam!"

He opened his eyes; saw her stormy amber eyes wide-awake, shocked and almost betrayed.

"What the hell?"

"I'm sorry. I was fucking freezing last night and you were all the way over on one side of the bed so I got in with you but I have no idea how we got here. We must have just…gravitated toward each other."

"I don't care about that, you moron!" She nearly screamed, sitting up and pushing herself against the headboard. You were gonna kiss me! God! What the hell is _wrong_ with you?"

Liam stared at her, dumbfounded. She wasn't upset that she'd ended up in his arms because he'd snuck into her bed to be close to her, she was only pissed about the near kiss?

Before he had a chance to respond she got out of the bed, grabbed her snowboarding clothes and slammed the bathroom door. Liam got dressed quickly, not wanting to drag anything out. He shook his head violently; trying to rid himself of the image of her in his arms, escape from his desire somehow.

He had their stuff and was ready to go when she walked out of the bathroom, strangely calm. She took her purse from him and zipped up her jacket.

Looking up at Liam she said something, something that made her hurt so much to say she feared she wouldn't be able to say it at all.

"Look, Liam, we can't do this. We can't _be_ this. Do you understand me? We _can't_."

"Why?"

"Because it won't last, not when faced with all the drama. We'll lose our friends, we'll be an island and eventually we'll resent each other and then it will be over. And I won't…I won't be able to get over you; you're too…everything." She looked at him, hard; right in the eyes, then shook her head and walked to the door.

She opened it and took a step, pausing but not looking back at him. "Look whatever you feel for me, don't. Just stop feeling it. Right now."

Annie walked away then, and Liam watched her, confused almost despondent. He looked down at his feet and walked toward the door.

"I can't Annie…and I won't." Liam said aloud to the empty room. Turning, he looked behind him at the mess of covers on the bed, clutching desperately to the hope that this was a beginning, not an end.


	2. Chapter 2

**Author's Note: For some weird and irritating reason I had a hard time writing this section…please R&R and tell me if I'm nuts. LOL. I tried to give the Lannie lovers what they asked for and if I failed, I'm deeply sorry.**

Two months later…

Annie heard a knock on her door and looked up from her chemistry book. "Come in!" She called.

Dixon opened the door and stuck his head in. "Hey…you coming to Ade's gig tonight? 'Cause Ivy's on her way to pick me up and she said it was cool if you rolled with us."

Annie smiled and looked down. "No…I think I'm gonna skip it. I have a lot of chemistry to get through. Thanks for the offer though. You kids have fun!" Annie mocked.

Dixon leaned on the door frame. "You sure you're ok Annie? I mean…one night out isn't gonna kill you. After everything I think you deserve a break."

"Oh, well thank you, Dr. Phil!" Annie chuckled. "But nah…its ok I promise. I really do have a lot of work to do."

"Ok." Dixon replied, looking unconvinced. "If you change your mind, text me."

"I will, text you that is, not change my mind."

"Right. Later."

"Bye."

Annie went back to her chemistry dispassionately and soon heard the rumble of Ivy's beater jeep come up their street. She heard loud music, Bob Marley, and shouting. Clearly Dixon was not the only person Ivy was driving to the concert. Annie glanced at her cell phone, confused as to why they were leaving so early. Come on stupid, she thought to herself, they're probably going to get food first. She turned back to her chemistry homework and sighed.

"Looks like you're my date for the night." She said aloud to the text book sadly.

A half an hour later Annie ventured down to the kitchen to grab some brain food. She was fixing herself a turkey sandwich when she heard her phone vibrate on the counter by the sink. Wiping off her hands on a towel she glanced at the phone, picking it up and looking at the screen slightly confused. The screen glowed and taunted her:

One new message received

Liam

She leaned her head back against her shoulder blades and debated whether or not to look at the message. The last couple months since their ill fated snowboarding trip had been awkward at best and hideously uncomfortable at worst.

For a while Liam had kept his distance entirely, trying to avoid her at all costs. Then it had become passing glances and nods in the hallway, escalating finally into a forced cordiality between "friends." They would talk now and then, Liam would give Annie a ride home here and there, but it was mostly superficial nonsense. Usually he only called or texted for school or Dixon related reasons, but for some reason with this text she had immediately felt a tingle work its way up her spine. A tingle she refused to acknowledge as anything other than a brief case of the chills or a misread brain signal.

Finally, she went with her instinct and against her logic and clicked open the message.

Dix and Ivy just rolled up…

Where are you? You can do

stupid chem hw on the wknd.

Take a break.

Biting her lip Annie steeled herself to text a response. Over time she'd found it harder and harder to be around Liam. She hated going to the classes she shared with him, hated feeling those blue eyes on her…studying her.

Who was she kidding? She didn't hate it. She loved it.

Annie merely hated that it didn't matter, that it couldn't happen….that it wouldn't happen. Being around him just hurt too much, and she didn't much want to watch a concert in the same place as him around all their friends at the very park where she had started feeling something for him; the very place where she had told him to go back to Naomi, despite every atom of her being wanting him to be with her.

Shaking her head quickly before her brain went anymore AWOL she typed a quick message back to him.

Its ok, rather get this done

now. Have fun, I know Ade

will rock it.

She pressed "send" and went back to her dinner, but less than a minute later her phone buzzed again.

Don't make me come over

there and drag your tiny ass

out of the house. I'll lose my

parking spot. I hate losing a

parking spot.

Annie rolled her eyes, but couldn't quite stop herself from smiling at his trademark sarcasm. She typed her response and prepared to defend herself.

Liam I don't want to go.

Don't lie. I know when you're lying.

I'm not lying. I need to get this

done. There will be other shows.

You're a terrible liar. I don't even

need to see you to know it…however

seeing you would be nice. Everyone's

here. Come to support Ade at least.

I already told her I was busy. She'll

recover.

Fine.

Fine what?

Fine…I'm coming to get you.

Liam NO!

Someone has to. I'm in the car.

Don't text me. I don't want to get

arrested…again.

LIAM!

She waited, but he didn't respond.

"Shit!" She yelled, trying to calculate how far Will Rogers Park was from her house. With traffic it would take him at least 15 minutes…maybe he'd give up and turn around. She put the sandwich hurriedly in the fridge and stalked upstairs furious, yet confident that he wouldn't break down a door to get to her.

20 minutes later and despite being hunkered down in bed with her ear buds in, Annie heard the tell-tale roar of Liam's GTO. She heard his car door slam shut and quick footsteps up the path to the porch, but he didn't knock or ring the bell. She took her ear buds out and listened intently for a couple minutes. It was as if he were just expecting her to come down. Well fat chance on that, she thought defiantly.

"Are you gonna come down nicely? Or do I have to carry you?"

Annie jumped, turning toward his voice and letting her book fall to the floor. His head was leaning in her open window and she watched him pull himself into her room easily.

"What the hell, Liam?" She exclaimed angrily, getting off the bed and walking up to him gesturing wildly with her hands. "You can't just bust in here like this!"

"I didn't bust anything. I climbed. Pretty easy too, Dix told me Ivy sneaks in through his window all the time. I never believed him before." He looked her up and down appraisingly.

She was wearing a white tank top and a denim skirt, with black flats.

"Ok, you're already dressed. Let's go. I think I may still be able to find parking."

Annie was livid, but at the same time she knew she'd already lost the battle. She turned on her heel, grabbed her purse and phone off the bed and walked out her bedroom door. Liam began to follow, happy he had gotten his way, but she turned around and threw her arm out toward him, pointing back at the window.

"You may go out the same way you came in." She ordered, and stomped off.

Liam chuckled as he watched her round the corner to the stairs, then climbed back out her window.

The drive to the park had been silent, Annie hunched against her door and looking out the window. That was, until, they got back to Liam's parking spot.

"You blocked your spot?" She asked, incredulous.

"I happened to find a couple cones lying around…so I made sure I could get my spot back." He pulled up next to the car in front of the spot, preparing to back up. "Run out and get them out of my way, would you?"

"You're ridiculousness is astounding, you know that?" She shook her head at him and got out of the car tossing her bag over her shoulder.

"I'm taking that as a compliment!" He called after her.

Annie grabbed the two cones and put them on the curb, stacking them on top of one another while she waited for Liam to Parallel Park. She was impressed with how easily he maneuvered the big orange beast of a car.

Liam stepped onto the curb next to her, his trusty leather jacket in his hand.

"You ready?"

"To go home? Yes."

"Annie, we're here, just attempt to have a good time. Please, for me?

Liam grabbed her wrist with two fingers and squeezed it gently.

"Fine. Let's go." She replied, not looking him in the eyes and pulling her hand away from him before he realized her pulse was quickening.

As they approached the stage Annie heard a familiar voice shout to her, and seconds later arms were flung around her from behind.

"Dixon said you weren't coming!" Silver exclaimed. "What changed your mind?"

Annie hugged Silver back quickly and inclined her head toward Liam. "This one broke into my house and threatened violence."

"I did not threaten violence, and I did not break in." Liam scolded comically. "I merely said I would drag you out of the house and your screen is broken."

Annie rolled her eyes at him, hoping desperately that Silver wasn't paying enough attention to pick up on the electricity she felt sure was passing between her and Liam. "You guys want a drink?"

"Teddy got me mine already." Silver replied, holding up a clear plastic cup. "But thanks! Annie?"

"Um, something with caffeine…thanks."

"No problem." Liam said, turning into the crowd.

The minute Liam turned away Silver grabbed Annie by the shoulders and shook her. "What was that?" She asked wide-eyed.

"What do you mean 'what was that?" there was no _that_ happening."

"Annie. Do not, I repeat do _not_ go down this road again. Naomi hasn't quite been the same since Liam left her. They barely even talk. Don't make the same mistake twice."

Annie looked at Silver, guardedly. "How is this any different than you dating Teddy after what he did to Ade?"

Silver dropped her hands to her sides, utterly shocked. "Annie, Teddy and I are different…and Ade is _not_ Naomi."

Annie shook her head, unable to swallow the reality that no matter what happened, no matter what she felt and how much she felt it, Liam and she could never be. "Look Silver, there is no road to go down, no mistake to repeat. I'm not going to put myself or Liam at risk, not again, not after what happened before; not after…everything."

Silver looked skeptically at Annie before speaking. "Annie—"

"Silver, stop; I got it, ok? Go be with Teddy, he's looking for you."

Silver looked over her shoulder and saw Teddy smiling in her direction and motioning toward her. She turned back to Annie chuckling. "It's all a big mosh pit over there. Just go boldly into the madness and I will find you later, ok?"

"Yeah, sure."

Silver smiled and squeezed Annie's shoulder, then walked toward Teddy and melted into the bodies.

Annie looked beyond the stage toward the gathering dark. Thunderheads appeared to be forming and as she watched them drift and clump she saw a lightning strike off to one side in the distance.

Suddenly a clear plastic cup with dark liquid and ice was being shaken in front of her face.

"Your caffeine." Liam said.

"Oh, thanks. Did you see the lightning just now?" She asked taking the cup from his hand.

"I caught a piece of it. It'll be a madhouse if it rains." Liam adopted a high-pitched voice. "Dammit! Now my shoes are ruined!"

Despite herself Annie began laughing, thinking at once of all the people in Beverly Hills who didn't know how to drive in inclement weather.

"No one here knows how to drive in rain anyway." She said, confident that Liam knew exactly what she was talking about.

"Thank you!" He responded, gesturing with his free hand. "I thought I was the only one."

"Nope. I'm right there with you." She said wondering if her smile would give her away.

Liam watched her closely, thoroughly enjoying seeing her happy. Things had been so tense since the ski park, and it had been his fault.

She was right, of course, about them not having a future. She was right that the drama would beat them down, about the resentment that would eventually creep up, but he didn't care. Avoiding her had been a complete waste of time on his part. He barely kept it up for a week. He was relieved when she finally started looking at him, talking to him again, but now…this moment hurt him; it tore at his chest raggedly, he was so _close_ to her, yet _she_ was so far away. Annie was an island, isolated, unreachable.

This moment made him wish he was stronger, wish he could ignore her, wish he could look at her without feeling his heart cruelly kick against his ribs.

Adriannna was talking now, a tinny, mechanical voice over the speakers. The music began and slowly, a tranquility came over Annie's expression.

She looked up at Liam, an echo of a smile on her face. "Thank you, for bringing me here." She said finally. "I needed it more than I thought I did. I needed reminding."

Liam looked at her, puzzled. "Reminding?" Of what?"

A fogginess passed over her, then evaporated. "Come on, let's go mosh and scream for Ade until we're hoarse."

Annie turned toward the crowd and Liam followed, confused, but somehow _hopeful_.

Adrianna was only about six songs into her set when the rain began. At first it was light, almost like a mist. Ade soldiered on, but some of the crowd left almost immediately. Then it began pouring and the crowd scattered like so many shards of glass from a broken window.

Liam and Annie had been standing a few bodies behind the group of Teddy, Dixon, Silver and Ivy. Once the real rain started falling they all bolted toward where Ivy had parked, the group of them thankful she had had sense enough to put the topper on the Jeep.

Instinctively Liam took Annie's hand so they wouldn't lose each other in the jostling, but as the crowd broke up he heard a yelp and felt her hand slip from his. Liam turned to find Annie splayed on the ground, apparently having been knocked down by the guy behind her.

"What the hell, man?" he shouted and shoved him away from Annie.

"I'm sorry, bro, someone shoved me and I lost my balance, I didn't mean to mow over your girlfriend."

"Get lost, asshole."

"Whatever, man."

Liam was still angry but he knelt down and hauled Annie up by the elbows. "Are you ok?"

Annie looked down at herself comically. Half of her was covered in a thin mud and she was soaked, her hair matted and her tank top sticking to her skin. "Yeah I'm fine. It wasn't his fault. My wrist hurts though; I think I kinda tried to break my fall with my hand."

"Come on." He said throwing his jacket over her pixie frame let's get you home."

"No!" She cried. "I love the rain…there's _never_ any weather here. Let's just stay here and enjoy it."

Liam looked at her appreciatively. She looked like a little girl swamped in her big brother's jacket and with the rain she looked how she had looked when she had jumped into the fountain, the day he had started realizing that he'd always had _something_ for her and just hadn't really explored it.

Annie looked up at him smiling contentedly. "It really seems like this park has it in for us."

Liam nodded; glad that she hadn't forced herself to forget about that day. "In for us, yes, and out to drench us. Come on, we should at least try to seek shelter under a tree or something so I can look at that wrist." He took her other hand in his and they jogged over to a clump of short cherry trees.

Annie immediately plopped down on the grass and leaned back against at tree. Liam followed suit and held her sore wrist in his hands gingerly. He rotated it back and forth, exerting light pressure then bending it forward and back.

"Does any of that hurt?" He inquired.

"Not explicitly, no. It just kinda aches. I doubt anything really happened to it; it was just an awkward fall."

"Ok, I just wanted to make sure you were alright."

"I know Liam…and I appreciate it." She looked at him and smiled briefly before putting her hands in her lap and staring at them.

"And are you?"

"Am I what?"

"Alright? I feel like I hardly see you anymore, Annie."

"You see me all the time, Liam. We're friends."

Liam turned toward her. He watched drops of water slide off her hair, watched her pull her legs up toward her chest and look up into the sky.

No, Liam thought to himself suddenly.

_No, this isn't going to be the way this goes. I'm not going to let this slip away, not going to let her throw up the red light, or let her force me to surrender. _

"Annie, I need to ask you something."

"Ok." She looked him dead in the eye, not wavering. It was like she knew what was coming; she was ready for a fight.

Now that it came to it Liam was…nervous about asking her, but he steeled himself for whatever her answer, and went for it.

"What if I don't want to be friends?"

Annie's heart stopped. She thought she was prepared, but now that she _heard _the words come out of Liam's mouth she felt fragile, like whisper would shatter her body.

It felt like generations between the beats. Her heart would thud, a month would pass and it would thud again. She knew what he was asking, but she couldn't take it, couldn't risk assuming anything, so she would make him spell it out.

"Are you saying you don't like being my friend? You don't want us to be friends anymore?"

"I'm saying I want to be more than friends."

Annie's breath got stuck in a hard ball at the back of her throat. It hadn't stopped raining, but she got up and started walking toward the car anyway.

Liam got to his feet and stalked after her. They were _going_ to solve this once and for all.

"Annie, don't run."

"I'm not running. I'm walking."

"Then don't walk. Just stop. Stop and tell me you don't want to be more than friends. Look at me, and tell me you don't feel what I feel."

She kept walking and finally he reached out, grabbed her arm and pulled her back toward him, and then she was there, in his arms. He looked down at her, rain splashing off her cheeks, lighting reflecting in her eyes.

"Tell me you don't want me the way I want you and I'll leave you alone." He said slowly. "Tell me you're still in love with someone else, tell me I'm crazy, but whatever you tell me, make me believe it."

She looked up at him, pressed against his chest, defiance all over her face. "I can't tell you any of that."

"Why not?"

"Because I _don't want to_, Liam!" she almost screamed at him. "I _want _to be more than friends, I _do_ want you…the way you want me!" She pushed away from him roughly took off his jacket and threw it on the ground vengefully. "Are you _happy_ now?" And this time she did scream. "I admit it! I…want…_you_! And you know what?" She threw her hands up violently. "You can't have me and I can't have you, ok? You weren't the one who got ostracized for a year! You weren't the one who had 'slut' painted on her locker! You weren't the one dating a fucking sociopath! There's a system, there are _rules_ Liam!"

He looked at her intently. Despite being wet and bedraggled she was fire and courage, defiance and wrath and splendor and…Annie.

Liam covered the distance between them in two bounding steps. He grabbed her by the waist and jerked her against him lustily. Her body was hard and coiled, completely on the defensive. "Fuck the rules, Annie." He whispered putting his left hand on her cheek.

She looked up into those searing cobalt eyes and she felt herself slipping, breaking, falling.

She couldn't do it anymore, it was hopeless; fighting him was a desperate useless ploy because she'd only be battling her own heart and in the end, she knew it was a battle she couldn't win. So she stopped fighting. She caved in to him.

Liam could feel her body physically unwind in his arms. He looked at her quietly, his eyes dancing between her eyes and her lips. She nodded almost imperceptibly and he lifted her chin with his hand as he bent down to kiss her, tentatively at first.

He felt her shudder involuntarily and he pulled her tighter against him, intensifying the kiss, her lips left his for a moment and he felt hot breath on his cheek and a sudden panic that she'd pulled away, but before he'd even opened his eyes her mouth was open against his, her tongue curious and probing. Liam wrapped both his arms around her and lifted her entirely off the ground. She wrapped her legs around him and he walked back to the tree pressing her back against it.

As they kissed his mind wandered, feeling her, tasting her, wondering how he had ever allowed himself not to be with her. He felt her moan softly into his mouth and he ended the kiss slowly, lessening its fervor achingly.

Liam stepped away from the tree and Annie looped her hands around his neck so she could slip down his chest to the ground. He kissed her neck just below her ear and murmured "I hope that doesn't mess up any of those rules you were talking about."

Annie got on her tip-toes and kissed him lightly. "Fuck the rules, Liam…Let's get the hell outta here."

Liam stared at her, excited by the new, bright light that shimmered in her eyes. "Where do you want to go?"

Annie walked over and picked Liam's sodden jacket up off the grass. She slipped it over her shoulders and looked at the furious sky. "I don't care. I just want to go…with you."

Liam walked to Annie, put his hand on the small of her back, bent her backward and kissed her. Anyone looking at them would have assumed they were trying to recreate the famous V-J Times Square Kiss.

He pulled her back up looking admiringly at her glistening face, her fiery eyes. "I think I can arrange that, Annie."


End file.
